Chapter 89 - March (2)

The next morning, an army numbering in the thousands marched out from the forest surrounding Fressia's walls. The army was imposing in every way, with well armored and equipped soldiers.

At the front of the army was the vanguard, which was composed of decently armored soldiers. They were mounted atop war steeds, and were equipped with spears and shields to protect themselves. Most of the vanguard consisted of humans, but there were a few other demi-humans who were good enough with mounts that were able to take up spots in the vanguard.

Before long, the army was only some distance away from the city's first wall. But there was something off that made the soldiers a bit hesitant. There had been no reaction from within the walls, and those with great hearing also could not spy any movement or sounds of preparations.

The city of Fressia was divided into three parts. The Outer Circle, the Middle Circle, and the Inner Circle.

The descriptions of these circles were rather simple.

The Outer Circle was simply the part of Fressia's territory that was cut out and marked out by the Outer and Middle Circles. This portion of Fressia was mainly set apart for farming and growing livestock, as it was filled with immense farmlands and small forests.

The Middle Circle was where the actual city of Fressia was. Homes, inns, restaurants, stalls, and whatnot, could all be found in the Middle Circle. This was the main hub of the city where all forms of trade and transactions took place.

As for the Inner Circle, this was where all the high class citizens of the city lived, as well as the Lord of the city and all of those other important people who were vital to the proper running and handling of the city.

Right now, the soldiers of the army could not hear a single sound coming from the wall, but they kept marching forward nonetheless. Before long, they had reached a short distance from the wall.

"Halt!" Malim called out, and the march came to a standstill. He too, was confused, but he did not let down his guard. "Ariel, can you help us check the top of the wall?" Malim asked while he eyed the thirty meter tall wall.

"Sure, that's easy enough." Ariel agreed and urged her steed forward. When she got to the front of the formation, she dismounted her horse and raised her ankle length gown slightly, exposing her fair ankles. She preferred to remain in gowns when she was on land, as that allowed her to more efficiently utilize her other limbs.

Like lightning, a deep purple tentacle rushed out from underneath her gown, and stretched out toward the top of the wall, where it tied around a firm support, before pulling her up.

In just a few moments, she had already scaled the large wall! A few seconds passed as Ariel took her time to inspect the top of the wall.

"Nothing up here!" She eventually called back down. "I'll open the gates from the inside!" She told them, before lowering herself to the other side of the gates. Not even a minute later, the sounds of large, heavy gears turning could be heard before the gates started creaking open. On the other side, Ariel stood, leaning against the wall with her tentacles nowhere in sight.

"I don't think the city prepared an army, Malim. It seems like the scenario you thought of might be true." Ariel told Malim when he stepped up to her.

"True..." The man rubbed his chin in thought.

Before the man could speak again, a strange sound reached his ears, and the ears of the demi-humans who had sensitive hearing.

"Take cover!" He roared out loud, and everyone sprung into action. They had already been expecting a battle, so they never let their guard down, something that allowed them to respond quickly to the approaching threat.

Most of the army had remained outside the walls, spread up around it slightly, so they immediately used the wall as cover. As for those who had already stepped past the wall, they immediately raised their shields to protect themselves from the barrage of arrows that came raining down on them a few seconds later.

As soon as the initial barrage of arrows was over, those who were still exposed quickly retreated behind the cover of the walls. They filled into the corridors and halls that had been built into the walls, and took cover.

A few scouts had already swept through part of the area to confirm that the wall at their position was empty. That did not mean it was safe, however.

"Mohawk!" Malim yelled out, and the Wereape grunted in return. He popped open a finger sized bottle of purple liquid and downed the contents in one swift motion before crushing the bottle in his hands. He breathed out deeply and focused his eyes in the distance.

"I see them! They built trenches in the distance so they could beat us with a rain of arrows!" The Wereape exclaimed, although he was confused. Would it not have been better if they had taken posts on the wall so that they could properly launch an attack against the army that was approaching them?

He could not put too much thought into finding out the reason behind their actions. He needed to do something. Fast.

"I'm going out!" He yelled before dashing out of one of the windows in the wall, and sprinting across the field. His muscles expanded and bunched up, making him resemble a rather unwieldy mass of muscles and fur, but that did not make him lose the tiniest bit of speed. Instead, he moved far faster!

The potion that he had consumed earlier was a stimulant that Sir Delk had made specially for such a moment.. It was meant to boost a being's physical prowess by a great amount. With its help, Mohawk had been able to spot the archers from afar, and now, it boosted his body so much that he was almost going twice as fast as he could without it!